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Connect tools

Connect Claude Code.

Give Claude Code access to the code connections Kin has recorded. Follow the setup steps, restart the client, then check one answer against code you know.

How this works in Kin

Kin writes a JSON entry under mcpServers in the file Claude Code already keeps at ~/.claude.json, and adds a short discovery block to the global instruction file. Nothing else differs from the shared setup.

Start with a disposable copy of your code. Examples below were checked on a specific build; language and workflow support are limited.

Check the example version and setup

Supported build

Every command below was run on Kin v0.7.6, macOS on Apple silicon, on 2026-09-09, against a four-file JavaScript repository created from scratch. The output shown is what that run printed. Current release: v0.7.19.

Before you start

  • Read /docs/agents first. Everything except the file and its shape is the same for every client.
  • Claude Code installed and launched at least once, so it has written its own configuration file.
  • A repository admitted with kin init.

The steps

  1. 01

    Let setup write the entry

    Kin writes to the configuration file Claude Code already uses, under the mcpServers key.

    kin setup --intent agent
    Compare with the saved example output
      ✓ Claude Code configured (~/.claude.json)

    One row naming ~/.claude.json. Kin also appends a short discovery block to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, the global instruction file every Claude Code session on the host reads, so a session reaches for the graph tools before grep.

  2. 02

    Read the entry it wrote

    JSON, under mcpServers, keyed kin. It is not pinned to a repository: the server resolves the repository from where the client is working.

    cat ~/.claude.json
    Compare with the saved example output
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "kin": {
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "start"
      ],
      "command": "/Users/troyfortinjr/.kin/bin/kin",
      "env": {
        "KIN_MCP_TOOL_PROFILE": "agent-default"
      }
    }
  }
}

    The command is the absolute path to the kin binary that ran setup. If you move or reinstall Kin, run setup again so the path still resolves.

  3. 03

    Restart Claude Code and check the server answers

    A client reads its MCP configuration at launch. Setup already proved the entry answers, so if the client shows nothing after a restart, the client is the thing to look at.

    kin setup status
    Compare with the saved example output
      ✓ MCP: Claude Code           ok             mcpServers.kin present with agent-default profile (~/.claude.json)

    The row above, plus the round-trip line setup printed when it wrote the entry. The agent-default profile serves 21 tools, including semantic_locate, get_context_pack, find_references, impact_analysis and kin_graph_status.

When the answer looks wrong

An empty or partial answer can reflect coverage, repository state, or an error. Each row below says what the state means and what to do next.

  • Claude Code lists no Kin tools after setup.

    It read its configuration before Kin wrote to it.

    Quit Claude Code completely and start it again.

  • The entry points at a binary that no longer exists.

    The command is an absolute path recorded at setup time, and Kin moved or was reinstalled elsewhere.

    Run kin setup --intent agent again from the current install.

  • You did not want the discovery block in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.

    Setup appends it so a session prefers graph tools over raw file search. It is plain text under its own heading.

    Remove that block. The MCP entry works without it; sessions just will not be nudged toward the graph tools.

Next action

Ask it a question you can check.

Pick a function you know, ask the agent for its callers, then run the same question on the command line and compare the two answers.

Find recorded callers